System and method for providing telephone call notification and management in a network environment

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter provide methods and systems to receive an incoming call message via a data interface upon activation of a trigger established with a voice communication network and activated when the voice communication network receives an incoming call to a destination identified by a pre-determined subscriber account; generate a call notification in response to the incoming call message; obtain a list of set-top boxes corresponding to the pre-determined subscriber account; and route the call notification to the set-top boxes on the list.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed subject matter relates to the field of network andtelephone communications, and more particularly to methods and systemsincluding providing call notification and management in a networkenvironment.

CROSS-RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. ______,entitled, “______”, filed on ______date______, and assigned to SBCKnowledge Ventures, L.P.

COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the software and dataas described below and in the drawings that form a part of thisdocument: Copyright 2006, SBC Knowledge Ventures L.P. All RightsReserved.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, telephone network providers have been integratingservices to support voice, data, and video communication. And there havealso been attempts to integrate wireless telephone networks withland-based in telephone networks. The result has been a variety of newservice offerings such as voice over IP (VoIP) and IPTV. However, thefull integration of these service offerings has yet to be realized. Forexample, conventional systems have not been able to flexibly support thenotification, configuration, and management of telephone calls using atelevision interface and an IP network.

Some conventional set-top box systems have provided limited support forcaller ID notifications using a television interface and adirectly-connected traditional telephony network line (e.g. TDM).Because these conventional systems depend upon a direct telephone lineconnection, these systems cannot provide a flexible and configurablesolution for the notification, configuration, and management oftelephone calls using a television interface and an IP network.

Thus, an improved system and method for the notification, configuration,and management of telephone calls in a network environment using atelevision interface is needed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a VoIP network and an IPTV network in accordance withone example embodiment of the disclosed subject matter hereof;

FIGS. 2-7 illustrate various example embodiments of processingoperations performed for initializing the system and for handling anincoming telephone call in accordance with one example embodiment of thedisclosed subject matter hereof;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example embodiment of a computing system inaccordance with the disclosed subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown byway of illustration, specific embodiments in which the disclosed subjectmatter can be practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may beutilized and structural changes may be made without departing from thescope of the disclosed subject matter. The leading digit(s) of referencenumbers appearing in the Figures generally corresponds to the Figurenumber in which that component is first introduced, such that the samereference number is used throughout to refer to an identical componentwhich appears in multiple Figures. Signals and connections may bereferred to by the same reference number or label, and the actualmeaning will be clear from its use in the context of the description.

As described further below, according to various example embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter described herein, there is provided animproved system and method for the notification, configuration, andmanagement of telephone calls in a network environment using atelevision interface.

Example embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, as illustrated inthe block diagram of FIG. 1, provide a network-based system and amethodology for: establishing a trigger with a voice communicationnetwork, the trigger being activated when the telephone network receivesan incoming call to a destination identified by a pre-determinedsubscriber account, receiving an incoming call message via a datainterface upon activation of the trigger, generating a call notificationin response to the incoming call message, obtaining a list of set-topboxes corresponding to the pre-determined subscriber account; androuting the call notification to the set-top boxes on the list.Referring to FIG. 1, an incoming telephone call is received on one of avariety of conventional voice communication (e.g. telephone) networks105, which can include conventional land-based telephone networks,wireless or cellular telephone networks, voice over IP (VoIP) networks,satellite telephone, and the like. Each of these conventional voicecommunication networks provide capabilities for associating triggers 107with a particular incoming telephone call based on the subscriberaccount being accessed (e.g. the telephone number (TN) being dialed).

For conventional land-based telephone networks, Trigger A shown in FIG.1 can be implemented as follows. The TDM network receives an incomingcall at the SSP (Service switching point). The trigger in the SSP can bean AIN (Advanced Intelligent Network) message to an OSA (Open ServiceAccess) SCS (Service Capability Server) that initiates an event to theCaller ID application server 150. The OSA SCS responds with a AINmessage back to the SSP as an indicator to continue with the call setup.

For a conventional wireless or cellular telephone network, Trigger Bshown in FIG. 1 can be implemented as follows. The GSM network receivesan incoming call at the MSC (Mobile Switching Center). The trigger inthe MSC can be a TCAP (Transaction Capabilities Application Part)message to an OSA (Open Service Access) SCS (Service Capability Server)that initiates an event to the Caller ID application server 150. The OSASCS responds with a TCAP message back to the MSC as an indicator tocontinue with the call setup.

For a conventional voice-over-IP (VOIP) network, Trigger C shown in FIG.1 can be implemented as follows. The IP multimedia subsystem (IMS)network receives an incoming call at the CSCF (Call Session ControlFunction). The trigger in the CSCF can be a session initiation protocol(SIP) message to an OSA (Open Service Access) SCS (Service CapabilityServer) that initiates an event to the Caller ID application server 150.The OSA SCS responds with a SIP message back to the CSCF as an indicatorto continue with the call setup.

These conventional triggers 107 enable the activation of specialfunctionality through the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 120 as will bedescribed in more detail below.

IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 120 is a conventional multimedia servicesarchitecture provided in a unified system that supports a wide range ofservices enabled by the flexibility of session initiation protocol(SIP). IMS 120, an implementation of which is available from LucentTechnologies, supports multiple applications servers to providetraditional telephony services and non-telephony services such asinstant messaging, push to talk, video streaming, multimedia messaging,and the like. When a trigger 107 is activated upon the receipt of anincoming call to a particular telephone number, trigger 107 sends amessage to IMS 120 using the conventional session initiation protocol(SIP). In particular, a SIP Invite message is sent to IMS 120. The SIPInvite message notifies IMS 120 that a telephone call to a particularpredefined telephone number was received on one of the telephonenetworks 105. The SIP Invite message sent to IMS 120 provides severaldead items including the logical recipient of the request, the logicalinitiator of the request, or a session sequence number, a caller IDnumber, a called number, a date and time, and routing information, amongother information items.

In an embodiment, IMS 120 is coupled to a service delivery platform 110and a caller ID application server 150. Service delivery platform 110 isa conventional system for linking several service providing systems in anetworked computer environment to provide converged services. Animplementation of a service delivery platform 110 is available from IBMCorporation as developed under contract with SBC Communications, Inc.(now AT&T Knowledge Ventures, Inc.). Caller ID application server 150 isa novel system incorporating most of the innovative functionalityprovided by various embodiments. As will be described in more detailbelow, caller ID application server 150 receives a message from IMS 120when a trigger 107 detects an incoming call on one of the telephonenetworks 105.

Service delivery platform 110 is also coupled to order management system(OMS) 112. OMS 112 is coupled to a subscriber information database 114.OMS 12 represents an order management system which provides provisioningcapabilities in a converged service environment. Subscriber informationdatabase 114 is used for storage and retrieval of telephone subscriberinformation. Such subscriber information can include the subscribertelephone number(s), set-top box identifiers, VoIP information,subscriber account information, incoming call destination information, adefault subscriber configuration, subscriber personal, financial, anddemographic information, and the like. This conventional subscriberinformation is typically created when a new subscriber orders telephone,cable, Internet connection, video on demand, or other broadcast,communication, or computing services from a conventional networkprovider.

Service delivery platform 110 is also coupled to database 115. Invarious embodiments described herein, database 115 is implemented as alight-weight directory access protocol server (LDAP). LDAP 115 is usedfor the storage and low-latency retrieval of a portion of the subscriberinformation maintained in database 114. The use of LDAP 115 in variousembodiments will be described in more detail below. It will be apparentto those of ordinary skill the art that LDAP 115 could equivalently beimplemented as a networked database, internal data storage device, orthe like.

Service delivery platform 110 is also coupled to network address book116. Network address book 116 is used for the storage ofsubscriber-specific contact information. In various embodimentsdescribed herein, network address book 116 is used to map caller IDinformation to a name or identity that is more familiar to thesubscriber. The more familiar name/identity can then be used in the callnotification as will be described in more detail below.

Service delivery platform 110 is also coupled to Internet protocoltelevision (IPTV) platform 130. IPTV 130 is a conventional system andmethod of delivering broadcast television and on-demand rich mediacontent that uses an Internet protocol network as the medium.Conventional IPTV 130 is commonly used as a primary mechanism forcarriers, such as telephone companies, and cable and satellite TVcarriers, to deliver television to mass audiences over existingcommunications IP infrastructures. One such IPTV platform is availablefrom Microsoft Corp. and can be implemented with the Microsoft Windowsmedia platform. As shown in FIG. 1, IPTV platform 130 is interposedbetween service delivery platform 110 and residential Gateway 140. IPTVplatform 130 can also be directly coupled to caller ID applicationserver 150. The conventional IPTV platform 130, such as animplementation provided by Microsoft, includes a remote desktop protocol(RDP) with which a user can make command selections and provide datainput using a television/set-top box (STB) remote control device 162.

Residential Gateway 140 is a conventional device for residential orcommercial use to enable broadband access to the Internet. Aconventional desktop computer can be coupled to Gateway 140 and therebyobtain access to the World Wide Web using conventional interfaces andprotocols. Using the Web access provided through Gateway 140 and aconventional web browser 144, a user can visit various conventional websites, including a particular web site that can be used as aconfiguration portal 142. Configuration portal 142 provides a means fora user to configure various parameters and functionality provided invarious embodiments described herein.

Residential Gateway 140 can also be coupled with conventional set-topbox 160. Using IPTV platform 130 in combination with set-top box 160,video content can be displayed on a monitor coupled to set-top box 160.The configuration and use of IPTV platform 130 through residentialGateway 140 and set-top box 160 to present video content on a televisionmonitor is well known to those of ordinary skill in art. Set-top box 160also provides conventional functionality for interfacing with atelevision/STB remote control device 162. In various embodimentsdescribed herein, television/STB remote device 162 can be used incombination with the remote desktop protocol (RDP) of IPTV 130 toconfigure various parameters and functionality provided in variousembodiments described herein.

In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 1, Caller ID application server150 is coupled to IMS 120, LDAP 115, Network Address Book 116, and IPTVplatform 130. As will be described in more detail below in reference toseveral example embodiments, caller ID application server 150 incombination with the example system of one embodiment illustrated inFIG. 1 provides for caller ID and call waiting notifications displayedon a conventional television set/monitor. Caller ID application server150 further provides a Web interface and a television/STB remote deviceinterface for configuration and command selection of the caller IDfunctionality. In one embodiment, this web interface is provided by auser configuration portal 142. The user can access the userconfiguration portal 142 via the Internet using a conventional webbrowser 144 or via the television and the STB remote control device 162.The user configuration portal 142 provides a user interface presentationto the user and sends messages to the SDP 110 to change the user's IPTVCallerID configuration. SDP 110 interfaces with LDAP 115 to maintain theuser's CallerID configuration. In various embodiments, caller ID andcall waiting notifications include the display of the incoming telephonenumber, the name/identity of the caller, called telephone number, anduser prompts and to respond to or configure notifications, dismissnotifications, forward incoming calls to voicemail or other telephonenumbers, activate or deactivate “do not disturb” functionality, andactivate or deactivate “find me” or “follow me” functionality. Variousembodiments of caller ID application server 150 also provide a means toroute an incoming call to a specific set-top box or all set-top boxes ina residence or other location based on preconfigured user preferences.For example, calls may be selectively routed depending upon the identityof the caller, the number being called, the time of day, and based onthe content currently being viewed on the television monitor connectedto a specific set-top box. The caller ID notification can be generatedfor multiple telephone lines at a particular location as configured bythe user. For example, a user can configure caller ID notifications fora particular location that may have a mix of land-based telephoneaccounts, wireless telephone accounts, or VoIP accounts. Further,various embodiments described herein provide the user with a means toconfigure a network address book 116, which is used to customize, callerID notifications with caller names/identities as configured by the user.

As will be described in more detail below in reference to severalexample embodiments, caller ID application server 150 in combinationwith the example system of one embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 providesfor 1) establishing a trigger with a telephone network, the triggerbeing activated when the telephone network receives an incoming call toa pre-determined telephone number, 2) receiving an incoming call messagevia a data interface upon activation of the trigger, 3) generating acall notification in response to the incoming call message, 4) obtaininga list of set-top boxes corresponding to the pre-determined telephonenumber, and 5) routing the call notification to the set-top boxes on thelist. Referring to FIGS. 2-7, flow diagrams illustrate processingperformed for an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates the initialization and provisioning steps performedfor the call notification and management processing of an embodiment. Aspart of the initialization and provisioning process, OMS 112 provisionssubscriber information in service delivery platform 110 (processingblock 210). This subscriber information can include telephone numbers,set-top box identifiers, VoIP information, subscriber accountinformation, and default subscriber configurations for a particularuser/subscriber. In turn, service delivery platform 110 provisions allor a portion of this subscriber information in LDAP 115 (processingblock 212). Additionally, service delivery platform 110 configurestelephone network triggers 107 through IMS 120 based on the subscriberinformation received from OMS 112 (processing block 214). Theconfiguration of telephone network triggers 107 includes providing aspecification of the called telephone numbers that should be monitoredon a particular telephone network 105. Additionally, the configurationof telephone network triggers 107 includes providing informationnecessary to populate a SIP Invite message with necessary data. Servicedelivery platform 110 also performs initial configuration of IPTVplatform 130 (processing block in 216). Once IPTV platform 130 isconfigured, a subscriber can then view and edit caller ID servicepreferences via configuration Web portal 142 and/or STB remote 162 viaIPTV platform 130. The subscriber configurable service preferencesinclude those caller ID and call waiting services described above.Finally, in processing block 218, service delivery platform 110provisions subscriber address book information in network address book116. At this point, the subscriber can view or edit his/her address bookvia the Web configuration portal 142 and/or STB remote 162 via the IPTVplatform 130. Initialization in the example embodiment illustrated inFIG. 2 then terminates at the End bubble.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-7, the processing performed by an exampleembodiment for an incoming telephone call is illustrated. As shownstarting at processing block 310 in FIG. 3, an incoming telephone callactivates a previously configured corresponding telephone networktrigger 107. The network trigger 107 is activated, based upon thetelephone number being called. In processing block 312, IMS 120processes any pending requests for call waiting, call forwarding, findme/follow me functions, and the like for the called telephone number.IMS 120 then notifies caller ID application server 150 that an incomingcall was detected. In one embodiment, IMS 120 uses a SIP invite messageto notify caller ID application server 150 that an incoming call wasdetected. As part of the SIP invite message, IMS 120 provides the calledtelephone number, and the caller (i.e. caller-ID) telephone number tocaller ID application server 150. Upon completion of the processing inblock 312, processing for the incoming telephone call continues for theexample embodiment in parallel operations at bubble A as illustrated inFIG. 4 and at processing block 314.

In processing block 314, caller ID application server 150 uses thecalled telephone number to look up a corresponding set-top boxidentifier in the LDAP 115. In response to the called telephone numberlook up, caller ID application server 150 receives a list of set-top boxidentifiers corresponding to the called telephone number from LDAP 115(processing block 316). The list of set-top box identifiers werepreviously configured for the particular subscriber associated with thecalled telephone number. As described above, a subscriber can havemultiple set-top boxes at a location corresponding to the calledtelephone number. Additionally as described above, the called telephonenumber associated with the subscriber can be a land line telephone, awireless telephone, or a VoIP number. Upon completion of the processingin block 316, processing for the incoming telephone call continues forthe example embodiment at bubble B illustrated in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 4, processing for handling an incoming telephone callin an example embodiment is illustrated starting at bubble A. Inprocessing block 410, caller ID application server 150 notifies IMS 120to enable the incoming call to proceed as normal through the telephonenetwork. In processing block 412, IMS 120 notifies the telephone network105 to proceed as normal with the incoming telephone call. In processingblock 414, IMS 120 handles call waiting, call forwarding, find me/followme functions, and no answer conditions. Further, IMS 120 updates a calllog. Processing by IMS 120 then ends for the incoming call session.

In parallel with processing performed by IMS 120, caller ID applicationserver 150 performs additional functions in response to the incomingtelephone call as illustrated in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 5, caller IDapplication server 150 can use subscriber configuration data andpreferences obtained from LDAP 115 to selectively handle the caller IDnotification associated with the incoming call (processing block 512).For example, caller ID application server 150 can determine if caller IDnotification service is enabled for the subscriber associated with thecalled telephone number. Additionally, caller ID application server 150can use subscriber preference data to determine if caller IDnotification associated with this particular caller or the particularcalled telephone number is enabled. Assuming for the purposes of thisdescription of the example embodiment that caller ID notification isselectively enabled, caller ID application server 150 obtains the callername/identity from a pre-configured subscriber address book retained innetwork address book 116. (processing block 512). The preconfiguredsubscriber address book can be used to associate the caller IDinformation received from IMS 120 with the name or identity of acorresponding caller. If the name of the caller is found in thepreconfigured subscriber address book, processing for the incoming callnotification continues at the bubble C illustrated in FIG. 6. If thename of the caller is not found in the preconfigured subscriber addressbook in network address book 116, one embodiment attempts to obtain thecaller name or identity from other sources. If the caller name oridentity is still not found using other sources, the caller telephonenumber from the caller-ID information received from IMS 120 is used toidentify the incoming call (processing block 516). Processing for theincoming call notification continues at the bubble C illustrated in FIG.6.

Referring to FIG. 6, processing for the incoming call notificationcontinues at processing block 610. The set-top box identifier listobtained in processing block 316 is used to obtain the status andchannel/content being currently viewed for each of the subscriber's(i.e. called party's) set-top boxes (processing block 610). Using aset-top box identifier, caller ID application server 150 can access IPTVplatform 130 to obtain the set-top box status and channel/contentinformation for set-top boxes 160 connected to IPTV platform 130 throughresidential gateway 140. In this manner, caller ID application server150 can determine which of several possible subscriber set-top boxes maybe active and what content is being currently viewed on each of theactive subscriber set-top boxes. In processing box 612, caller IDapplication server 150 uses this information to generate a caller IDnotification. In particular, caller ID application server 150 can usethe caller telephone number, the called telephone number, the set-topbox status, the content being currently viewed through the set-top box,the time of day and day of week, and preconfigured subscriberpreferences to generate the caller ID notification (processing block612).

In processing block 614, the generated caller ID notification is routedto one or more subscriber set-top boxes identified in the set-top boxlist associated with the subscriber's (i.e. called) telephone number.This caller ID notification routing is based on several subscriberconfigurable preferences and the previously obtained subscriber/set-topbox information. For example, a subscriber can configure caller IDapplication server 150 to deliver caller ID notifications to aparticular set-top box only during certain hours of the day or certaindays of the week. In other cases, a subscriber can configure the systemto deliver caller ID notifications to all subscriber set-top boxes at aparticular subscriber location. Further, a subscriber can configure thesystem to deliver caller ID notifications to one or more subscriberset-top boxes, except during periods when particular identified channelsor programming content is being viewed on a particular set-top box. Inthis manner, a subscriber can suspend caller ID notification during, forexample, a particular sporting event or other programming during whichthe subscriber does not want to be disturbed with a caller IDnotification.

In processing block 616, the caller ID notification is displayed on thetelevision monitors connected to one or more of the subscriber's set-topboxes to which the caller ID notification was routed. Thus, as describedabove for an example embodiment, an incoming telephone call through oneof telephone networks 105 activates one of triggers 107, which causesIMS 120 to send call information to caller ID application server 150,which generates the caller ID notification and selectively delivers thecaller ID notification according to preconfigured subscriberpreferences. As part of the caller ID notification selectively displayedon one or more of the subscriber's television monitors, thesubscriber/television viewer is prompted to provide input in response tothe caller ID notification. Such viewer input can be used to dismiss orremove the caller ID notification from the television screen, answer theincoming call, forward the incoming call to another telephone number orto voicemail, disable further caller ID notifications, or configure thecaller ID application server 150 functionality. The handling of suchviewer input is described in more detail in FIG. 7 starting at thebubble D.

Referring to FIG. 7, processing for handling viewer input in an exampleembodiment is illustrated. In processing box 710, subscriber/viewerinput is received by caller ID application server 150 through IPTVplatform 130 in response to viewer activation of a soft button or thelike displayed with the caller ID notification. Such viewer input can bereceived through television remote device 162 and the remote desktopprotocol (RDP) of IPTV platform 130. If such viewer input indicates thesubscriber/viewer's request for a single dismissal of the caller IDnotification, caller ID application server 150 removes the caller IDnotification from the television monitor (processing block 712). If suchviewer input indicates the subscriber/viewer's request for disabling ofthe caller ID notification, caller ID application server 150 removes thecaller ID notification from the television monitor and configures callerID preference information in LDAP 115 to disable further caller IDnotifications (processing block 714). If such viewer input indicates thesubscriber/viewer's request for forwarding of the incoming call (e.g. toanother telephone number, to voicemail, or the like), caller IDapplication server 150 obtains the forwarding telephone number from thesubscriber or from preconfigured preferences and passes the fordingtelephone number to IMS 120 with a request to foreword to call asrequested (processing block 716). Processing for the incoming telephonecall session in the described example embodiment then terminates asillustrated in FIG. 7.

Although the system and method as described above is shown in an exampleform implemented in an IPTV distribution system, the disclosed systemand method may, in another example embodiment, may be implemented in acable television system, in a broadcast television system, or in asatellite distribution system, or other distribution systems, forexample a broadband wireless distribution system. In addition, accordingto another example embodiment, incoming telephone calls can be receivedthrough a variety of other conventional communication networks.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a diagrammatic representation of a machine isshown in the example form of a computer system 900 of a type sufficientfor use in any of the example embodiments set forth herein. System 900may include a set of instructions for causing the machine to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein, that may be executed.In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone deviceor may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server, aclient machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box(STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a webappliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable ofexecuting a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a singlemachine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken toinclude any collection of machines that individually or jointly executea set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 900 includes a processor 902 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), orboth), a main memory 904, and a static memory 906, which communicatewith each other via a bus 908. The computer system 900 may furtherinclude a video display unit 910 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 900 also includes analphanumeric input device 912 (e.g., a keyboard), a user interface (UI)navigation device 914 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 916, a signalgeneration device 918 (e.g., a speaker), and a network interface device920.

The disk drive unit 916 includes a machine-readable medium 922 on whichis stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g.,software 924) embodying or utilized by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The software 924 may alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 904,and/or within the processor 902, during execution thereof by thecomputer system 900. The main memory 904 and the processor 902 alsoconstituting machine-readable media.

The software 924 may further be transmitted or received over a network926 via the network interface device 920 utilizing any one of a numberof well-known transfer protocols, for example, the hyper text transferprotocol (HTTP). While the machine-readable medium 922 is shown in anexample embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readablemedium” as an article of manufacture should be taken to include a singlemedium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database,and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets ofinstructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken toinclude any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying aset of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause themachine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the disclosedsubject matter, or that is capable of storing, encoding, or carryingdata structures utilized by or associated with such a set ofinstructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, opticaland magnetic media, and carrier wave signals.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosed subject matter may be not limited to suchstandards and protocols. Each of the standards for Internet and otherpacket switched network transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, andHTTP) represent examples of the state of the art. Such standards areperiodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards andprotocols having the same functions are considered equivalents.

Thus, as described above, an improved system and method for thenotification, configuration, and management of telephone calls in anetwork environment using a television interface is disclosed. While theexample embodiments herein are generally illustrated in the environmentof an IPTV system, in an alternative embodiment a cable distributionsystem or satellite distribution system may be used instead. Such asystem may or may not use IPTV methodologies. Further, the IPTV may bedelivered over-the-air using, for example, broadband wirelesstelecommunications techniques.

Although the disclosed subject matter has been described with referenceto several example embodiments, it may be understood that the words thathave been used are words of description and illustration, rather thanwords of limitation. Changes may be made within the purview of theappended claims, as presently stated and as amended, without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the disclosed subject matter in all itsaspects. Although the disclosed subject matter has been described withreference to particular means, materials, and embodiments, the disclosedsubject matter is not intended to be limited to the particularsdisclosed; rather, the subject matter extends to all functionallyequivalent structures, methods, and uses such as are within the scope ofthe appended claims.

1. A method comprising: receiving an incoming call message via a datainterface upon activation of a trigger established with a voicecommunication network and activated when the voice communication networkreceives an incoming call to a destination identified by apre-determined subscriber account; generating a call notification inresponse to the incoming call message; obtaining a list of set-top boxescorresponding to the pre-determined subscriber account; and routing thecall notification to the set-top boxes on the list.
 2. The method asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the receiving an incoming call messagefurther includes receiving caller ID information.
 3. The method asclaimed in claim 2 further including: using the incoming caller IDinformation to obtain a caller name associated with the incoming call;and including the caller name in the call notification.
 4. The method asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the voice communication network is a POTSnetwork.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the voicecommunication network is a wireless network.
 6. The method as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the voice communication network is a voice-over-IPnetwork.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein list of set-topboxes includes unique identifiers for one or more set-top boxes at asubscriber location.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein routingthe call notification includes routing the call notification to aplurality of set-top boxes at a subscriber location.
 9. The method asclaimed in claim 1 further including displaying the call notification ona television monitor.
 10. The method as claimed in claim 1 furtherincluding receiving a control input from a television remote device. 11.The method as claimed in claim 10 further including removing the callnotification from the television monitor upon receiving the controlinput.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 10 further includingforwarding the call upon receiving the control input.
 13. An article ofmanufacture comprising at least one machine readable storage mediumhaving one or more computer programs stored thereon and operable on oneor more computing systems to: receive an incoming call message via adata interface upon activation of a trigger established with a voicecommunication network and activated when the voice communication networkreceives an incoming call to a destination identified by apre-determined subscriber account; generate a call notification inresponse to the incoming call message; obtain a list of set-top boxescorresponding to the pre-determined subscriber account; and route thecall notification to the set-top boxes on the list.
 14. An article ofmanufacture according to claim 13 wherein the incoming call messageincludes caller ID information.
 15. The article of manufacture accordingto claim 14 further operable to: use the incoming caller ID informationto obtain a caller name associated with the incoming call; and includethe caller name in the call notification.
 16. The article of manufactureaccording to claim 13 wherein the voice communication network is a POTSnetwork.
 17. The article of manufacture according to claim 13 whereinthe voice communication network is a wireless network.
 18. The articleof manufacture according to claim 13 wherein the voice communicationnetwork is a voice-over-IP network.
 19. The article of manufactureaccording to claim 13 wherein list of set-top boxes includes uniqueidentifiers for one or more set-top boxes at a subscriber location. 20.The article of manufacture according to claim 13 further operable toroute the call notification to a plurality of set-top boxes at asubscriber location.
 21. The article of manufacture according to claim13 further operable to display the call notification on a televisionmonitor.
 22. The article of manufacture according to claim 13 furtheroperable to receive a control input from a television remote device. 23.The article of manufacture according to claim 22 further operable toremove the call notification from the television monitor upon receipt ofthe control input.
 24. The article of manufacture according to claim 22further operable to forward the call upon receipt of the control input.25. A system comprising: a voice communication network; a triggeroperably coupled with the voice communication network, the trigger beingactivated when the voice communication network receives an incoming callto a destination identified by a pre-determined subscriber account; anda caller ID application server operable to: receive an incoming callmessage via a data interface upon activation of the trigger; generate acall notification in response to the incoming call message; obtain alist of set-top boxes corresponding to the pre-determined subscriberaccount; and route the call notification to the set-top boxes on thelist.
 26. A system according to claim 25 wherein the incoming callmessage includes caller ID information.
 27. The system according toclaim 26 further operable to: use the incoming caller ID information toobtain a caller name associated with the incoming call; and include thecaller name in the call notification.